Norwich Man Who Trafficked Meth is Sentenced

Vanessa Roberts Avery, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that JOSEPH WILK, JR., 53 of Norwich, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Stefan R. Underhill in Bridgeport to three years probation including six months of home confinement, a $5,000 fine and a $100 special assessment; for trafficking methamphetamine.

According to court documents and statements made in court, in 2022, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service identified a series of parcels suspected to contain controlled substances that were being mailed to Wilk’s Norwich residence and a P.O. Box in Norwich that he opened.  On November 21, 2022, investigators conducted a court-authorized search of a suspicious USPS Priority Express parcel mailed from California to his P.O. Box and found that it contained more than one pound of pure methamphetamine.  Investigators determined that Wilk’s co-conspirator, Michael Mihalko, had been tracking the package.

On December 8, 2022, Wilk picked up the package in Norwich and drove to his residence.  Shortly thereafter, Norwich police officers arrived at his residence.  After Wilk gave his consent, investigators searched his home and seized approximately 2.575 kilograms of methamphetamine, approximately 16 grams of ecstasy, items used to process and package narcotics, two handguns, and $1,740 in cash.  Wilk was arrested on state charges at that time.

The investigation revealed that approximately 17 parcels suspected to contain narcotics were mailed to Wilk between May and December 2022.  After Wilk received methamphetamine that had been mailed to him, he would deliver some of it to Mihalko, who at the time was living in the Boston area, and distribute some of his to his own customers in Southeastern Connecticut and Rhode Island.  Wilk also trafficked liquid Gamma-Hydroxybutyric acid (GHB).

On May 31, 2023, Wilk pleaded guilty in federal court to conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine.

Mihalko, 41, of Bridgeport, pleaded guilty to the same charge on October 12, 2023, and awaits sentencing.

This investigation has been conducted by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service’s Narcotics and Bulk Cash Trafficking Task Force and the Norwich Police Department.  The Task Force includes members from the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the U.S. Postal Service – Office of the Inspector General, the Connecticut Army National Guard, and the Hartford, New Britain, Meriden, and Town of Groton Police Departments.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jocelyn Courtney Kaoutzanis.